By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald
Hawaii will have a significant increase over last year in the number of people initiated into the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil liturgies on April 15 in their respective parishes.
In a final formal step in preparation for that big night, 212 catechumens will be welcomed in four Rites of Election this weekend on Maui, Kauai, Oahu and the Big Island. That number is 27 more than last year, a 15 percent jump.
The figures are provided by the diocesan Office of Worship.
Also called the “elect,” the catechumens have participated for the past year in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, or RCIA, or the Rite of Christian Initiation of Children, RCIC.
Last year, the diocesan Office of Worship listed 185 people receiving the three sacraments of initiation — Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion. That number was the lowest in seven years. The diocese averages about 200 catechumens a year.
Twenty-four out of Hawaii’s 66 parishes do not have any catechumens this year. Three military chapels and one ethnic Catholic community also reported no catechumens. One parish did not respond to the Office of Worship’s request for names.
The parish with the largest number of catechumens is St. Joseph, Waipahu, with 23.
At the rites of election, catechumens sign their names in their parish’s Book of the Elect, signifying their desire to be received into the church at Easter. The pastor or parish RCIA coordinator then presents the book to the bishop or vicar for his signature.
Here is the schedule for the rites:
- Big Island: Saturday, March 4, 5 p.m., St. Joseph Church, Hilo. Mass with Bishop Larry Silva.
- Kauai: Sunday, March 5, 9:30 a.m., St. Catherine Church, Kapaa. Mass with vicar forane Father Anthony Rapozo.
- Maui: Sunday, March 5, 2 p.m., St. Theresa Church, Kihei. Celebration of the Liturgy of the Word with vicar forane Msgr. Terrence Watanabe.
- Oahu: Sunday, March 5, 2 p.m., Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, Honolulu. Celebration of the Liturgy of the Word with Bishop Silva.
Besides the Rite of Election, those preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation generally experience two other parish-based rites during their catechumenate.
One is a rite of first anointing by a priest or deacon, using the Oil of Catechumens, celebrated, according to the Office of Worship, “whenever this seems beneficial or desirable … at least once during the catechumenate.”
The other is the Rite of Sending Catechumens for Election which is done preferably at a liturgy on the Sunday prior to the Rite of Election.
The RCIA process also prepares those who are already baptized, but who have not been confirmed or have received first Eucharist, to be received into “full communion” with the Church to receive those sacraments of initiation, but preferably at a time other than the Easter Vigil.
